Clark Nova
Clark Nova is a fictitious brand of typewriter that appears in Naked Lunch. In the film, the Clark Nova serves as protagonist William Lee's "handler" during his drug-induced hallucinations, in the form of a grotesque oversized bug. Like many of the characters and events in the film, the Clark Nova's character is purely imagined by Lee and in reality it is nothing more than an inanimate object. Events of Naked Lunch The Clark Nova first appears quite early in the film. Shortly after accidentally murdering his wife, William Lee is instructed by a "Mugwump" to buy a Clark Nova portable typewriter to write a report on his wife's death. Lee obliges and trades his pistol for a Clark Nova at a pawn shop. He takes the Clark Nova to the "Interzone" and starts to write his report. After some heavy drug usage, Lee hallucinates that the Clark Nova typewriter is actually a giant talking bug that speaks through an anus-like hole on its back. Lee imagines he is a secret agent and the Clark Nova is his handler. Although initially disturbed by the Clark Nova's insect form, Lee obeys its orders to investigate the mysterious "Interzone Incorporated". When Lee becomes acquainted with Tom Frost, he borrows Frosts' Martinelli typewriter. In the night, Lee takes more drugs and hallucinates that Clark Nova bug viciously attacking the Martinelli (which has taken the form of a similar female insect). The Clark Nova claims the Martinelli is an agent of Interzone Inc. It is not entirely known what actually happened to the Martinelli but Lee somehow smashed it. After failing to return the Martinelli to Frost, Lee is held at gunpoint by Frost, who demands his typewriter back. When he discovers it destroyed, he steals Lee's Clark Nova. Lee takes the remains of the Martinelli to a repairman, who turns it into a Mugwump typewriter called the "Mugwriter", which acts as Lee's new handler. The Mugwriter double-crosses Lee and so Lee proposes to Frost that he can have the Mugwriter in exchange for his Clark Nova. Frost agrees but when Lee receives the Clark Nova, he finds it severely damaged and "dying". In his dying words, the Clark Nova tells Lee that Interzone Inc. is operating from Hans' old drug factory. Behind the scenes The "Clark Nova" brand is entirely fictitious. The actual typewriter used for the film was a modified Smith Corona "Sterling", which is fairly accurate for the period in which the film is set. The giant Clark Nova bug was a rubber prop with actual typewriter keys. It had remotely-controlled wheels attached to its underside for the scenes in which it "crawls". Two other versions were made for the film; a Clark Nova bug without the typewriter keys on its face appears early in the film, and the scene in which the Clark Nova "dies" required a bloodied, mutilated Clark Nova bug prop. Only the normal version with the typewriter keys is still known to exist. Gallery Novaclark.png|The Clark Nova's true form; nothing more than an ordinary typewriter. Clark-Nova.jpg|The Clark Nova bug in a pile of bug dust.